1 Thessalonians 5:19
1 Thessalonians 5:19 ~ “Do not quench the Spirit…”
The context of this verse needs to be seen in 1
Thessalonians 5:19-22. As is common in the closing of one of Paul’s letters, he
offers parting advice, encouragement, exhortation, edification and warnings
that are both theological and practical. 1 Thessalonians is no different.
“Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic
utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil. ~1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
We today have the hindsight and Bible to preach our
message of the Gospel. At the time of Paul’s writing this there may have been
assorted writings but certainly not the completed canonized Scripture that we
have today (Hendriksen-Thessalonians 139, Wiersbe-Vol. 2 189). This would’ve
required the likes of “prophesying” or a person who “speaks forth”. As is
common in the absence of syntax in the Greek, Paul places the most important
emphasis in the beginning of his statement. “Don’t quench the Spirit”. This
begs the question: Quench it how? He tells us in the next clause: By treating
prophecies [from God] with contempt (whether purposely or accidently).
Therefore we are to test or prove the things said.
The people Paul is writing to/preached the truth to
were moved by the Holy Spirit. Their spiritual knowledge was given to them by
the Spirit. As is attested to all throughout the New Testament, they often they
spoke in a tongue. It is possible that is why the three gifts of prophecy,
tongues, and knowledge are grouped together in 1 Corinthians 13. Because of
this immediacy of the spiritual there seems to have been a high probability of
deception since Satan or our very own flesh could counterfeit the received
message and lead not just the receiver of the message astray but all who were
listening (Hendriksen-Thessalonians 150).
Those listening that mistakenly tried to silence the
speaker that was speaking truth from the Spirit of God would be guilty of
suppressing the Spirit. Conversely, those that believed a false spirit would be
in trouble too because they would be obeying false spirits. Because we have
Scripture we do not need the prophets per se as mentioned above but in Paul’s
time they would’ve needed to discern the spirits or “test them all” or as some
Bible versions say “prove all things”. Paul had given specific rules for this
in 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 so when Paul says uses the word quench in verse 19,
Paul most likely would’ve have envisioned the Spirit as fire as in Acts 2:3. So
when Paul says “quenching” the Spirit he is saying do not “put out” or cease
the work of the Spirit in our lives whether this be in our hearts or someone
verbalizing a truth (Wiersbe-Vol. 2 189).
This obviously requires that we discern
what type of spirit we are dealing with. Are they evil spirits, the spirit of
the world, our spirit or is it the Holy Spirit within us? It is important that
we allow the Spirit free reign in our hearts, our lives and in the Church to do
His work. Wiersbe is clever to note that heat (perhaps from a flame) can also
melt things together…like His Church. Once we decide which these utterances are,
verse 22 tells us we are to either (1) hold on to what’s good or (2) reject or
throw away what is evil of not of the Holy Spirit.
Shut-up, Sit Down and Do What the Spirit Tells You
To conclude this section and the paper in general, I
offer this closing thought. We in the church are called by the Great Commission
in Matthew 28:19-20 to take the Gospel throughout the entire world in the name
of the Father, Son….and Holy Spirit. It stands to reason that we are not to
prevent this work in any way. Yet this is exactly what many do in modern
churches when they attempt to promote their own agendas or try to force the
Church into a prefab business model situation where everything is formulaic and
choreographed. We shove and stuff the Holy Spirit into a box (or at least try
to) and He is only allowed to come out except at certain times like a divine
Jack-In-The-Box. Those times that we let Him out usually are right after the
emotive music played to solicit an emotional response or right before the tithe
baskets hit the end of the aisle.
In this way we demean and abuse the work of
the Spirit (resist, quench). We inadvertently (or worse) purposely make Him
part of a circus sideshow meant to entertain people (2 Tim 4), rather than have
the meaningful worship God meant to have in church…just as it has been spelled
out for us in Scripture. The truth is that we may plant and water the seeds of
the Gospel but it is the work of God through the Spirit that makes the seed of
the Gospel germinate and take root (Matthew 13:18-23, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9). In
the end it should be the Holy Spirit that dictates how He works through us…we
need to let the Spirit work through us, not sin against Him by fighting Him
every step of the way thinking we know better.
As it was with the Scribes and Pharisees, so to it
could be with us today. We like them are fallen sinful people and it is only
the work of the Spirit that would make us different from them. In other words,
it is the very act or actions of the Spirit in us (whom we are capable
grieving, resisting or blaspheming) that creates the very difference in us that
prevents us from remaining like the Scribes and Pharisees of old.
Bibliography
Hendriksen,
William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of First and Second
Thessalonians and Pastoral Epistles. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.
Print.
Hendriksen,
William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel of Luke.
Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979. Print.
Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary:
Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew. Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House, 1973. Print.
Kistemaker,
Simon. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of
the Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1990. Print.
Longenecker, Richard N.. Acts: Expositor's Bible Commentary.
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995. Print.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary,
Vol. 1. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor/Cook Communications, 2001. Print.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary,
Vol. 2. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor/Cook Communications, 2001. Print.
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